The Binding Ritual
by LadyFufu
Summary: When Yoshiko had asked Riko to come to the club room during lunch break to help her with something, Riko assumed it was for homework or maybe even singing practise... Being tied up and placed in the centre of a pentagram, ready to be offered as a sacrifice to whatever god above or demon below never once crossed her mind. YohaRiko Oneshot


When Yoshiko had asked Riko to come to the club room during lunch break to help her with something, Riko assumed it was for homework or maybe even singing practise. Something she could manage.

Being tied up and placed in the centre of a pentagram, ready to be offered as a sacrifice to whatever god above or demon below never once crossed her mind. Even when she'd first walked in and saw the setup in the middle of the unlit room, she'd been prepared to tell Yoshiko that she couldn't "help" her with that sort of thing, until she'd suddenly found herself being subdued and bound and then being forced to "help".

"H-hey, Yocchan!" Riko began begging, struggling against the ties as the other girl flicked through a large leather tome in her hands. "S-surely you don't have to do this. Or m-maybe somebody else could help you with… whatever this is?"

Yoshiko shook her head, to Riko's dismay, without even looking away from the book. "I'm afraid not, Riri," she said, reading fervently, "I have to do this, and it has to be you that assists me." Riko whined with frustration as her struggles grew stronger, knocking over one of the "candles" - thankfully of the electric variety, most likely for safety reasons - in the process. The muffled bang of Yoshiko closing the book made Riko jump, tipping over another "candle".

"Alright! I'm ready, let's do this!"

"Let's not!" Riko screamed. Yoshiko ignored her friend's pleas as she quickly righted the fallen candles, then took her place directly in front of the girl. She began to pull the hood of her cloak over her head, smirking and saying, her voice lowering, "Close your eyes, Riri. I assure you all will be fine."

Riko squeezed her eyes shut with a whimper, more to block out whatever awful thing Yoshiko was planning on doing with this weird ritual thing. She heard the other girl begin chanting below her breath, though she was couldn't understand what she was saying.

Then it stopped, and there was silence in the room. Riko heard a shuffling sound, likely the ruffling of Yoshiko's cloak, however nothing was said. Eventually, her curiosity began to override her panic, and she cracked an eye open.

Yoshiko was crouched directly in front of her, her face inches from Riko's own. Surprised, Riko jumped, this time falling backwards, disturbing all of the candles. She bit back a yelp as she landed uncomfortably on her arms, then again as Yoshiko moved on top of her and pinned her, her hands on either side of Riko's head as the 1st year straddled her waist.

The girl smirked. "Well, Riri," she purred, "the contract should have been formed now, so I ask you; do you swear your eternal loyalty to me, and that you shall stay by my side evermore?"

Riko blinked, confused at the offer. "Huh?"

Yoshiko blinked, her confident smirk falling and confusion spreading on her own face. "Eh?"

"Yocchan," Riko shuffled beneath the smaller girl, wincing again as she ground her arms into the floor, "can you tell me what all of this is about?" Yoshiko didn't answer Riko's question, her brow furrowing in further confusion.

"Yocchan?"

"Did it not work?" Yoshiko lifted herself off of Riko and disappeared behind the table in the club room where Riko couldn't see her. Finally freed, Riko pushed herself back into a seated position.

"I don't get it, it should've worked," Yoshiko mumbled, as the sound of pages being turned could be heard.

"What didn't work? What is going on here, Yocchan?" Riko cried, her frustration growing. "I'd like an answer now, Yoshiko!" There was a squeak at that, and a now sheepish looking Yoshiko crawled out from behind the table, book in hand. Once she was in front of Riko, she began shuffling through the book again, slowly, as though to stall for time. She eventually opened it fully to a page and turned it to face Riko, not that she could really understand what the book was talking about. Something about binding two people together…?

"It's an ancient ritual designed to connect two souls together for all eternity," Yoshiko said, her words muffled from behind the book.

"O-kay then?" Yoshiko closed the book again, but didn't lower it from her face. Her eyes were the only thing not covered, though they were looking everywhere else in the room aside from at Riko.

"It's supposed to be an everlasting contract, and the two involved would never be parted from one another. They shall be partners in all forms," Yoshiko recited, though her voice trailed off near the end of the sentence. Despite the darkness of the room, Riko could faintly see Yoshiko's face growing red. And then it clicked.

"Wait," Riko shook her head to clear it, as the idea crossed her mind and she could already feel her own face growing warm at the thought, "was all of this - calling me here and typing me up and terrifying me half to death - all just some super convoluted way for you to say you liked me?"

Yoshiko's eyes continued darting around the room, her face definitely growing red, before she raised the book to cover her face entirely, then mumbled, "Maybe."

...

"You could've just asked!" Riko shouted.

"Well how was I supposed to know if you'd feel the same?!" Yoshiko shouted back, slamming the book onto the floor, "That was like, part of the point of the ritual, to ensure mutual feelings, as well as the binding process!"

"Okay, first, while I can see you had...some good intentions about it, the whole ritual idea sounds kinda like brainwashing, which is pretty creepy-" at that, Yoshiko flinched, yet Riko continued- "and second, I repeat, YOU COULD'VE JUST ASKED FIRST!"

"WELL FINE, I'LL ASK NOW!" Yoshiko then jumped to her feet, taking up her "fallen angel" persona pose, though she still looked and sounded like a frantic 1st year as she asked, "Little demon Riri, this great mistress Yohane looks fondly on you, and seeks to forge a bond with you. Would you agree to forming a covenant with me?"

"Yes, Yocchan, I would," Riko answered without hesitation, looking directly at Yoshiko as she did. A pregnant pause grew between the two, before Yoshiko asked, "Really?"

"Yes! Now can you untie me?"

"Wait! We need to plan a date!"

"We can go to the sweets shop together after school, now please!" With a smile now spread across her still red face, Yoshiko nodded and set to work on the ties around Riko's ankles. Then as she moved to untie Riko's wrists, the older girl said, "You really could've just asked me out on a date without having to do all of this. I was kinda planning on doing it myself sometime soon."

"Really?" Yoshiko said, pausing as she turned her attention to Riko.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I've kind of admired you for a while; your confidence mostly, and your dedication to everything; to Aqours and Guilty Kiss, and even your whole fallen angel thing. But you're a good girl at heart." She twisted around and gave Yoshiko an earnest smile. "I suppose things just grew from there."

Yoshiko shifted on the spot, her face growing warm again. "Well, I always appreciated how patient you were, constantly dealing with everyone at their rowdiest-" another shuffle- "and especially me at my worst."

"Don't say it like that, Yocchan," Riko said, frowning.

"But I know what I'm like sometimes. I do go a little overboard at times," Yoshiko said, motioning to the room around them to emphasise her point, "But I suppose everyone in the group says that's part of my charm. At least it works in Guilty Kiss. Which I'm glad that you're there with me. You keep us right, Mari and me."

"Well, I try. But I suppose it wouldn't be Guilty Kiss without some wild times. You're both there to pull me along into everything we do. And I'll admit, I don't hate everything we get up to," Riko giggled. Yoshiko smiled back.

Yet as she moved to continue removing Riko's binds, both of them still wearing soft smiles from the moment they'd just had, the door to the club room opened, and the light suddenly turned on, making both girls flinch at the sudden brightness.

"Uhm, what's going on in here?" As their eyes readjusted, both Yoshiko and Riko found themselves growing pale as they saw the rest of Aqours peeking into the room, confusion on their faces - though Mari looked more amused at the sight than anything.

"Uh…" Yoshiko gulped.

"We can totally explain this," Riko said.

"Or we can just leave you two to whatever this is and we'll meet up here after school for a club meeting," You said, reaching for the door and pulling it shut, ignoring the room occupants' frantic screams for them to wait as they both lunged for the door - despite Riko still not being full freed from her ties.

Though the sound of the door being run into did earn some giggles from some of the girls.

* * *

 **This ended up being more comedy than fluff, but these two are just such massive dorks, and given the set up I'd done, I couldn't very well not write this with them not being dorks. Though I managed to fit in some sweet fluff, so it's fine~.**

 **Anyway, keep the A/Ns brief; I hope you enjoyed! Concrit is always appreciated.**

 **Fufu x**


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